Conveyer



Jan. 2, 1945. A. DE L. SINDEN 2,366,569

CONVEYER Qriginal Filed April 3, 1940 4, O-MC M Patented Jan. 2, 1945 CONVEYER AlfredDe Los Sinden, Aurora, 111., assignorto Redler Conveyor Company, Quincy, Masss a corporation of Massachusetts a 1 Original application April 3, 1940, Serial No. 327,667, now Patent No. 2,277,039, dated March 24, 1942. Divided and this application January 19,1942, Serial No. 427,312 A t v e v 12 Claims; (o1. 19s 174) Thisinvention relates to a conveyer, and to a ying element therefor.

The invention has for an object to provide a novel and improved conveyer which-is particulare ly adapted among other uses for conveying material in curved paths lying substantially in the same plane and embodying a novel structure of conveying element. 1

With this general object in view and such others as may hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the conveyer and in the various structures, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described jandjparticularly defined in the claims at thef end of this specification" j In the drawing illustrating the preferred emf bodimentof theinvention, Fig. 11s a plan view of a conyeyer embodying the present invention; Fig. 2is a perspectivedetail view of a portion of the conveying elementemployed in the conveyer; Fig. .3 is a sideelevation of one of the flights of the conveying elementfs'hown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectionalview taken on theline l-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a pe'rspectiveview of a modified form of flight for the co, veying, element, Fig. 6 is a sectional 'viewshowing the'fliglit of Fig. 5 in the conveyer; other modified form of flight for the conveying element; and Fig. 8 ma perspective view of the flight shown in Fig. '7.

t In general, the present invention contemplates a',,conveyer ,of. the type" in. which the material is conveyed through] atrough "or casing by a'pluralityloi' connected conveyerflights. In the preferred and illustrated "embodiment of the inventlon, the conveyer comprises a trough or casing III which is herein shown as extending in a general rectangular path and with the corner portions I2 curved, as illustrated. The casing may and preferably will be provided with the usual inlet l4 and outlet l 6, as illustrated.

The present conveying element, indicated generally at I8, is made up of a plurality of connected flights or links of solid construction, one embodiment of which, as illustrated in detail in Fig. 2, may comprise a connecting link 20 having a slotted hub 22 at one end and having a boss 24 at the other end which is adapted tobe received within the hollow hub 22 of the next succeeding flight of the conveying element. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, a solid flight member 26 of general rectangular shape is connected integrally with the hollow hub 22 by a depending portion 28, and the flight member is disposed Figi'lis a' sectional view of an-.

substantially at right angles to the link 20, ex-. 5

tending transverselyfrom one- "has illustrated in Fig. 4. In the illustrated embodiment of theinvention, the conveying element I8 is arranged to be drawn through the casing III by a driving sprocket 3B which is driven from a suitable source of power, such as a motor 32, mounted onla base 34 at tached to the upper section of the casing above the conveying elements The sprocket 3B i driventhrough bevel gears 36, 38, the latterbeing fixed to a vertical shaft 40 upon which the sprocket 30 issecured; Idler sprockets 42, 44, 4B are also providediat the corners l2 over which the con-' veying element is arranged to pass. y As clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, the individual flight members 26. are slightly inclined rearwardly with respect to the direction of travel through the casing, as indicated by the arrows, so that .in operation, as the. flights are dragged through the con veyer they will tendto glide smoothly along the bottom Wall of the casing I0, thus reducing to a minimum-the vibration and noiseordinarily-resulting from contact. of the flight members with thecasing. M Fromflthe descriptionthus far, it will be, ob served that,in operation,'the material introduced into the'conveyer through the inlet I4 is carried along betwe'en the flight members 26 and is arranged to fall by gravity through the discharge opening I 6. As shown in-dotted lines in Fig.4,

side of the casingthe inlet hopper 14 may be extendedinto the casing belowthe levelof the'connecting links '20. in order to determine the level of the material in the casing: The links :are thus disposed above the level of the material, and as a result of this construction, during the operation of the conveyer, minimum opportunity is afforded the goods to enter the slotted hubs 22, and as a result, maximum freedom of pivotal movement is aiiorded the parts as the conveyer element is drawn through the casing. Sufficient clearance is provided between the side edges of the flights and the walls of the casing to provide for maximum efliciency in performance, and in operation, as the material is carried along between the flights, it tends to level itself oil. The solid construction of the flight members is. particularly ad- 'vantageous when conveying certain non-freely In this modification, the link is disposed above and substantially intermediate the side edges ofthe solid flight 50 and the connecting portion 52 is angularly extended from one edge of the flight Provision is also made to the hollow hub 22.

7 lines in Fig. '7.

for supporting the conveying element in the casing, and as shown herein, a track 54- is provided within the casing, arranged to receive the link portions of the conveying element with the vided with a conveying element having solid flight hub portions 22 in sliding engagement with the track or rail 55. The rail is supported in an in. termediate position with respect to the side walls or the casing by angle members-56, 58 mounted,

as shown upon the underside of the top section of the. casing. The material maybe introduced into the casing l through a side limit 60, as shown in Fig. 6; .With this construction, the conveying element I8 is supported to. dispose the bottom edge of the flight slightly above the bottom wallof the casing to reduce to a minimum noise and wear. 1 The supporting angle members Serial No. 327,667, filed April 3, 1940, and issued form a guard to prevent the material from comlng in contact withthe connecting links. In oporation, the material tends to level itself oil to a height substantially even with the top edge of the flight members 50..

Another modification of the solid flight conveying element, asillustrated in Fi s. 7 and 8. may comprise a plurality of connected flight the side wall 14 of the casing l0, serves as a guide to limit the lateral movement of the link portion and the solid flight member. Likewise, the horizontally extended portion in cooperation with the top section of thecasing serves to limit vertical movement of the' flight members. The material may be introduced into the casing through a side inlet 16, as indicated by dotted The oonveyer thus constructed provides maximum support for the conveying ele vment and also provides maximum protection for the link portions from contact with the material in the casing.

From the above description it will be observed that the present construction of a conveyor promemb'er's is adapted to efiiciently convey materials in various paths and particularly in curved paths lying substantially in the same plane and the conveyor is particularly adapted to-be'us'ed for conveying non-freely ,fiowable-materials.

This application is a divisionof my application March 24, 1942, as Patent No. 2377,039 j While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what. is

claimed is: V l y H 1. In a conveyor, a substantially horizontal casing having a bottom, top and sidewall, 23. con" veyer element adaptedto be drawnthrough the members, each having link portions 20, 22,, 24

and a solid flight portion 64 integrally connected with the hollow hub portion 22 by a connecting member Iii-extending vertically from a position intermediate the side edges of the solid flight member and then horizontally to one side to connect with the top of the hollow hub portion 22,

as shown in Fig. '7. As illustrated, the link portion is disposed above and to one side of the solid flight member, and is arranged-to run in a sepa rate trough or track 68 disposed within the'casing whereby to support the conveying element in a predetermined position with respect to the casing. The trough 68 may be supported from one side wall 14 of the ca'singand is provided with a horizontally extended portion 10 and an upstande ing edge portion 12 which, in cooperation with casing having a plurality of solid fiights meansdisposed within the casing for pivotally connect; ing the nights, an inlet in one side. of thecasin arranged with relation to said pivotalconnectio'ns between the flightsto effect the disposition of the material entering the casingso that its angle of repose is below said pivotal connections, and track means within the casing and carried thereby for suspending and supporting the flights within the. casing, said track means having an upright portion and a connecting horizontal portion. both serving as a shieldto prevent material entering the casing through said inlet from contacting the pivotal connections between the flights.

2. A conveyor as defined in claim 1 wherein the conveyor flights areprovided with arms ex:

tending to within the track means forconneoting' 

